Government & Politics
Bobby Jindal Takes Shots At Obama After White House Governors’ Meeting | TIME – Our governor broke protocol after a meeting with fellow governors and President Barack Obama when he unloaded with a partisan attack on Obama’s “minimum wage economy.” (I suspect we’ll hear that line again.) Jindal’s solution? Drill more, approve the Keystone XL pipeline and delay Obamacare.
Former Bobby Jindal coastal adviser eyes ‘void’ in Louisiana 6th Congressional District race | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Shortly after resigning from the state coastal authority, Garret Graves is nearing a decision on whether to run for the seat that will be open when U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy runs against U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.
Lee Zurik Investigation: Peter Galvan’s golden parachute | FOX 8 WVUE –Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, says the former St. Tammany coroner, who was sentenced to two years in prison, “has an ethical obligation to make the parish whole again and return all of the misspent funds.”
Environment
LOGA leader bound for court Tuesday | The Advertiser – Louisiana Oil and Gas Association President Donald Briggs says a deposition last week aggravated a heart condition, and that’s why he missed a scheduled appearance in court Monday. Briggs’ group is suing state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell for approving the lawsuit against oil and gas by the Southeast Flood Protection Authority-East.
Bidness as usual | Gambit – Clancy DuBos, Gambit’s political editor, says the local levee board’s suit against oil and gas companies “represents the first significant effort by any Louisiana public agency to hold the awl-n-gas bidness accountable for coastal land loss. If successful, it could do to the energy industry what the tobacco litigation did to cigarette companies: unmask decades of lies and misdeeds — and change the rules forever.”
Mississippi spill highlights risk of US oil boom | Bloomberg – Recent oil spills due to train and barge crashes demonstrate the risks of moving oil from the Midwest and Great Plains states, where production is booming, to Gulf Coast refineries.
Criminal Justice
Louisiana prison reform will take bolder approaches than we’ve seen: Jarvis DeBerry | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Louisiana sheriffs benefit from draconian sentencing that swells jails and prisons, and they resist sentencing reforms that would save the state money, according to columnist DeBerry. He writes, “Not enough of us have expressed our anger at the human rights crisis that is happening in our midst. “
DOC searches work release center because of news reports | WWL-TV – The Louisiana Department of Corrections conducted a surprise search of a Covington work release center because of suspicions that inmates possessed drugs and other contraband.
Land Use
‘Road Home’ repayment demands rile homeowners | The Advocate — A public meeting addressed the state’s efforts to get some Road Home grants back:
Members of the New Orleans legislative delegation, including state Sens. Ed Murray, Karen Carter Peterson and J.P. Morrell and Rep. Jared Brossett, demanded to know why the state is asking for the money back when many homeowners claim they have sent in the necessary documentation to prove they followed the program’s rules and used the money to rebuild their storm-ravaged homes.
The Final Plans For The High Rise at 1031 Canal | Canal Street Beat – This looks like a hotel you might see in Miami’s South Beach. I’m wondering if the new plans will preserve the historic counter in the former Woolworth’s, which was the site of civil rights sit-ins.
Schools
Auditors question $14,500 in credit card spending at Sophie B. Wright | The Lens – The school principal said that documentation has been found for all but $1,600 in charges.